Stocks slide on doubt over whether government to approach IMF

Stocks fell more than 3 percent on Monday on uncertainty over whether the new government will approach the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package or not, a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was seeking other options. The Pakistan Stock Exchange 100 index fell by 2,188.92 points to close at 37,898.20, down 3.4 percent from Friday.
"Government lack of clarity on the IMF front" was the main cause of the slide, said Saad Hashemy, chief economist and director of research at Topline Securities. "If the government tomorrow comes out with a clear policy that we have these issues and we are going to IMF or gives a clear indication, that would put market sentiments right," he said.
The rupee slipped in the open market, closing at 128.00 rupees compared with a close of 126.80 on Friday. However, in interbank trading it held steady at 124.20. "Uncertainty on the arrangement of foreign exchange flows was reflected in the depreciation of Pakistan rupees against the U.S. dollar in the open market, which dampened equity investors sentiment," said Samiullah Tariq, director of research at Arif Habib Limited.